A/N: Hello! This is my first story so I hope you enjoy it! It takes place during 7th year and I have tweaked a few details, but nothing too major (HBP didn't happen, all that jazz). If anything is unclear, feel free to ask about it. I also haven't read the books in a while, so discrepancies are entirely possible. Feedback is appreciated!

-edit x2- The change from iPhone to Gameboy has been made! Thank you so much for your help. The next chapter should be coming soon!

Darkness shrouded the Muggle neighbourhood. Tumultuous black clouds passed overhead like an angry overseer, although Snape was unsure whether this was meant as a bad omen for him or for the Muggles—he was never particularly proficient at Divination.

Of course, after The Prophecy, he tended to avoid anything to do with the subject.

His heart gave one painful palpitation and he rubbed at his chest with a slight grimace. Best not to lose focus here, he thought as he glanced to his left, where a figure in sleek black robes and a silver mask crouched next to him in a backyard.

His companion spoke up, "What, exactly, is the point of this contraption?"

"It's just a swimming pool, Lucius. Surely you've heard of such a thing?" Snape replied, his sneer hidden behind his mask.

"Fuck off, Severus, I know what the ruddy thing is. What I don't understand is why it is so garishly colored, made of this bizarre squishy material, and has been left out in the open." Malfoy eyed the inflatable pool contemptuously. He shifted his legs and Snape winced at the crackling of joints. "I'm getting too damn old for this."

Snape silently agreed but didn't answer. What was the point of it all? Being sent out on these ridiculous Muggle raids to attack innocent people was not what he wanted to do after a long day of teaching class and grading papers. As if Hogwarts wasn't already infested with soul-sucking fiends, he now had to finish the day off by tearing a piece of whatever of his soul was left.

"Once this whole bloody war is over, you and I are taking a nice long vacation, my friend."

"Shh," Snape hissed as two faint pops echoed in the distance. He idly fingered the coin hidden in his pocket to alert the Order—Granger's idea, which Dumbledore unsurprisingly crowed over—and prayed that they would arrive quickly.

"It's Mulciber and Avery. I thought Bellatrix was meant to be involved?" Malfoy questioned.

"It seems your esteemed sister-in-law is a no-show, my dear," Snape replied. "If that causes a problem tonight…"

"She would never skive off on something like this. Merlin, Mulciber is as thick as they come. As much as I try to avoid her, at least Bella possesses some inkling of intelligence. Who thought it was a good idea to let him come along?"

"He will undoubtedly fuck this up and land us all in Azkaban."

Lucius shuddered at the thought of returning and opened his mouth, primed with another insult.

A flash of green light from inside the house cut short their conversation, and the two robed figures stood up to enter the house from the back. Snape fell in behind Malfoy Sr. as the blond Death Eater unlocked the back door and set up wards around the area. Fingering the coin once again, he surveyed his surroundings with an odd sense of foreboding as he felt the coin heat up from his message:

No Lstrng? Mlcbr instd.

Snape removed his hand from his pocket and drew his wand. He followed Lucius inside as they headed toward the sound of tortured screaming and begging.

Upon entering the living room, Mulciber ended the third round of Cruciatus on the Muggle woman. The man was already dead, and as Snape cast a cold, unfeeling gaze around the room, it was clear why—trails of organs and intestines paraded the floor and walls.

"Charming, Mulciber," Snape drawled. He flicked his wand, collecting the entrails in a neat pile between the two Muggles and leaving behind a show of stained bloody mockery.

"Really, must you make such a mess?" Malfoy tutted, his usual expression of disdain evident even with the mask on. "It's so Muggle."

"Where is Avery?" Snape cut in as Mulciber seemed to take offense.

"Upstairs," the man grunted as he poked at the woman and checked for signs of life.

Snape's eyes glinted sharply. "Is that so? What could possibly be so enthralling that he did not even wait to greet the Dark Lord's most trusted followers?" What could he be doing? It's just a Muggle house and the residents are all down here

"Perhaps I shall check on Avery; the poor sod probably got lost. Mulciber, do hurry along and finish the entertainment off—if you haven't already." Snape took off his mask and raised an eyebrow at Malfoy, who was standing stiffly in the middle of the room as if he would be contaminated. "Lucius, feel free to add a more regal touch to the decor. Just don't play too long—we've other houses to visit."

Snape left the room and stalked darkly upstairs. Where were the Order? Surely it couldn't take that long to disassemble Lucius' wards. He followed the sound of Avery's voice as it carried from one of the bedroom's upstairs.

"You know, Mulciber likes to get his hands dirty when he plays. Must be the half-blood in him." A pause, and Snape was sure that Avery was sneering at Mulciber's technique. "But if you listen to me, I know curses that could boil you from the inside-out. Wouldn't you like that, pumpkin? It's clean and efficient - well, maybe not efficient, but it'll kill you in the end."

Snape approached the half-closed door with a growing sense of trepidation. "Avery, you sick fuck," he muttered in disgust and toyed with the DA coin again.

2 dead, 1 upstairs?

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open. "Evening, Avery," he greeted politely and, he hoped, calmly.

"Snape? How are ya, you old dog? Been a while since you've had some fun with us." Avery turned from the crib to grin madly at him, and Snape was reminded unpleasantly of Barty Crouch Jr.

"Indeed. Mulciber is still as messy as ever, I see. What are you doing?" Stay calm. Voice level. Don't panic. The child seemed unharmed for now. He tried to ignore the muffled cries from behind the toy car jammed in the infant's mouth.

"I found this here young'un and thought I'd have some fun since Mulciber's hogging the Muggles downstairs. I was just gonna teach him some more elegant curses. Any suggestions?"

Snape made a show of rolling his eyes and leaning against the doorframe in exasperation. "I suggest you hurry up so that we can move on to another house. It's hardly much of a raid if we spend all our time on one family. In fact, why don't I handle this for you? You run along and collect Mulciber."

"No way, Snape. Just 'cause you've been away from the job for a while don't mean you can take this one off me. I found him, so I get to take care of him. I think a blood-boiling curse would do nicely, don't you?"

As soon as Avery had finished talking, shouts erupted from the floor below; the Order had finally arrived. Snape jumped upright and feigned surprise. "What the bloody hell is that? Let's go, Avery. I told you not to waste time."

"Alright, alright," the other Death Eater grumbled. Before Snape could stop him, he cast a beam of red light at the gagged child. Avery fled downstairs.

Snape cursed as he watched the child's eyes start to widen as skin began to bubble from underneath. He swore again when he heard the distinct cackling of Bellatrix Lestrange floating upstairs.

Large blue eyes stared up at him, then squeezed shut in pain. Snape swore a third time because he knew that there was no hope for the child - he might have been able to stop the curse in an adult, but it spread too quickly through the baby's small body.

"Forgive me," he whispered as he aimed his wand and cast the Killing Curse. He allowed himself to hunch over the crib before straightening almost immediately and casting Morsmordre out the window. He turned on his heel and strode towards the door.

He was stopped in his tracks by Tonks, who stood a few feet down the hall with her wand pointed at his chest.

"What's going on?" he asked, instinctively raising his wand as well. Something was wrong. Her mouth was gaping stupidly and her eyes were glazed over. "Imperius," he breathed.

Both jabbed their wands at the same time. Tonks' stupefied body flew over the rails and landed on the main floor with a thud. Snape dove to the floor, only to feel Tonks' spell reverberate in his right leg. He rolled heavily and attempted to stand back up, only to feel the bone-shattering curse compress his leg. The bones cracked and splintered and he collapsed with a pained inhalation. He moaned as he tried desperately to recall the countercurse.

His vision began to black out even as he weakly tried to lift his wand arm. Blond hair suddenly filled his view, though it seemed to be fading into a vibrant red. When had Lucius gotten red highlights?

He faintly heard Lucius growl, "Severus?! Merlin's beard, I'm getting too damn old for this." And then an arm slipped underneath his body and he felt bile rising into his mouth as the familiar squeeze of Apparition jolted his shattered leg.


When Snape came to, he found himself sitting in a rocking chair by a creek. He glanced down at his leg and realized that it was fully healed. Frowning, he stood up, whirling around in a circle as he recognized his surroundings. What was he doing in Spinner's End?

He automatically began walking towards his house, only to feel a pull urging him in the other direction; impulse dragged him in front of Lily's home. Almost feeling as though he was Imperiused, he turned the doorknob and stepped inside. A shudder overcame him at the familiar sight of the Evans' entryway and he clenched his hand in despair.

"It took you long enough, Sev," a voice rang sweetly from the kitchen.

Snape's chest tightened and he groaned. Motherfuck, he was dead. He'd failed Albus and Potter and even that damned Muggle baby. Granger would feel terrible because her coin trick didn't help. Lucius would have no friend to drink with. Bugger it all, felled by a clumsy Imperiused auror.

"Stop being ridiculous and come inside," Lily called again.

Snape visibly startled and was glad there was no one around to witness it. How did she know?

"Sev," she said warningly, but with the same gentle tone, "don't make me come out there."

Forcing himself to move, he warily entered the bright kitchen, wand hand tensed. Almost disbelievingly, he gaped at the thin figure before him. She was as lovely as ever—brilliant red hair to match her vibrant presence. The sunlight glinted off her pale skin and gave her an ethereal glow, while the glare off her wedding ring seemed to burn right through him. Was this heaven or hell?

"Severus Snape," she snapped upon walking over to him. "You. Are. Not. Dead. I didn't realize you had grown to be so thick."

He raised an eyebrow mockingly at her choice of words. In reply, Lily fiercely gripped his head in her hands; the damned ring dug painfully into his cheekbone.

"It was a serious injury and you passed out—it was certainly a very, very close call. I'd advise you to be more careful next time, love. As close to dead as you were, you'd think it would have been easier to meet you in your mind. Of course, you never could make things easy, could you?"

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore her presence. It was wrong—everything felt wrong. And she was too close to him; he could feel her breath caressing his face.

With a sigh, Lily released his head and tugged him over to the living room, where she pushed him gently onto the couch. She sat down beside him, a pensive expression on her face.

"So am I in the process of dying?" Severus asked finally.

"No, Severus. I was actually walking around in the afterlife with James when a giant portal appeared out of nowhere. It was the kind of thing that you'd have laughed at, I'm sure. But I knew what I had to do—I saw you dying. Lucius is a good friend—he saved your body. I'm here to save your soul." She turned her green eyes on him. "It's fate, I'm certain."

At this, Snape scoffed. "Now I know I'm in hell. Lily, my soul has already been fragmented. Or did you miss the part where I murdered a child?" Strangely enough, he did not feel the usual pang of anger towards James Potter when he heard his name.

Lily snorted. "Self-loathing doesn't become you. I much preferred my task-oriented, confident, brilliant Sev. You'll always be an arse, but I think you'll feel much better now without the guilt. I can tell it's working—you didn't react at all to James' name."

"What have you done? What witchcraft is this?" Because it was true—not even her adoring words affected him as much as he had thought they would whenever he fantasized,

"It's divine intervention," she teased happily.

"Now you're being ridiculous. You know I don't believe in that tripe, and neither do you."

"Of course not, but magic works in mysterious ways. I know it's against your nature to not understand things that happen, but trust me on this—just go with it. When you've lived in the afterlife for so long, you begin to simply accept whatever happens."

"What's it like?" he whispered.

"At first, you feel powerless because you know there's nothing you can do for those you left behind. You have no idea, Sev, how much I wanted to help you all those years." At this, Lily averted her tear-brightened eyes. "It's truly in the past, though, and I want you to focus on the future instead. You've done so much for my boy, and I know you'll continue to do so."

Snape grimaced at her as she turned to look earnestly into his eyes.

"I've only got so much time with you right now, though. Even magic can only do so much. Just hear me out, okay? I know you think your soul is beyond hope, but I can see it and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. No one's soul comes to the afterlife perfect. This is going to be the most bizarre analogy you'll ever hear, so you better promise not to laugh. You know those Gameboys that Muggles use nowadays?"

Snape stared at her. "If this is what happens to people in heaven, I think I'd prefer hell."

Lily laughed and hit him on the arm. "Shut up and listen—this is serious."

"Could've fooled me," he grumbled and rubbed his arm jokingly. "Yes, I am vaguely familiar with the stupid things."

"Good. Now, just imagine that your soul is a Gameboy—shut up—and that it's been dropped. Not enough to completely break it, but the glass is cracked and it's scratched and it's not perfect-looking anymore."

He stifled his laughter, nodding instead.

"I can be the protective case for that Gameboy. It's not too late for it, but it must be done soon."

Snape was eyeing her suspiciously now. "And what are the conditions for this case?"

"You have to protect Harry and his two friends," Lily said softly. "I know you've essentially been doing that anyway, but with this agreement you must actively do so. I have no doubt that you would sacrifice your life for any of them, but what about the little things? Bullying, family matters, whatever—just imagine if someone had been there for you, how different your life would have been. The big issues might've seemed just slightly less daunting if the little problems weren't so prominent. Think about it, Sev. And remember, you can't protect someone if you don't know what's going on in their life."